Speaker vote marred by brawling MPs in Ukraine parliament
Thursday 13 December 2012
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EmailUkraine's new parliament managed to elect former Donetsk mayor Volodymyr Rybakas as its Speaker today, despite brawls and running battles between MPs.
Opposition MPs swarmed around the main rostrum when a vote on the appointment Mr Rybak was announced, and clashed with a group of MPs from the ruling coalition.
The session was suspended, but Mr Ryback managed to get elected when the session reconvened in the afternoon.
There were equally rowdy scenes on Wednesday, when opposition MPs sabotaged the ruling coalition's plans to ease Mykola Azarov into a second term as prime minister.
The opposition, which includes MPs loyal to jailed former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, nationalists from the far-right Svoboda and a liberal party led by boxing champion Vitaly Klitschko, accuses the ruling coalition of trying to force through voting despite violations of parliamentary rules.
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